Comments on: I’m a Victim of Identity Crime!

By: Joanna M. Pineda

Joanna M. Pineda — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:03:52 +0000

Monique, thanks so much for your comment. I agree with you that credit card companies should encourage, if not facilitate, the changing of credit card numbers on a regular basis. What scares me is that these small, fraudulent charges seem so common and there are simply not enough law enforcement resources to investigate all of them so most crooks get away with their crimes.

I think some of the credit card companies will give you a one-time use credit card number. I’m going to have to look into that more.

By: Monique

Monique — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 02:16:41 +0000

First, let me say, very beautiful blog you have. I like the colours.

As long as you have changed your credit card number, I think you should not be worried anymore. A new card number is like … well, a new card, and if someone out there has your information, without the card number, can not do anything.
Also, from your post and your description of that website and their weak security, I think that this is more of a lucky hit rather than someone having your card number.

I personally think that if credit card providers give the option to change card number every once in a while, I think credit card fraud will decrease dramatically. Surly, it helps eliminate the card number being stored here and there, giving the consumer a fresh start every once in a while.

It is comforting to hear that your credit card company did give you the option of a new card number right away; they are smart and they know that a new card number eliminates all headaches associated with fraud.

By: Joanna M. Pineda

Joanna M. Pineda — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 00:16:13 +0000

Robert, thanks for the reminder to call the police. I was so discouraged by Carfax’s response that I just dealt with Amex directly. You are right. Law enforcement is grappling with the flood of identity crimes and we can’t let the crooks get away with their evil deeds.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:23:50 +0000

Hi Joanna and Happy New Year! This happened to me just over a year ago. I purchased some Adobe software online, and the next day had two charges from HP. HP was very good and cancelled the order, and the bank fraud unit also acted swiftly. One other thing one should do is contact the police. An increasing number of police departments have units that deal with identity theft (mine does). I haven’t had a problem since. Have a great (and theft free) 2009!

By: Cat

Cat — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:58:30 +0000

This happened to my corporate credit card at my last job. There were six of us in the office with corporate cards and not three months went by with at least one of us appealing a fraudulent charge or two. The last fraudulent charge I had on my corporate card was for a baby clothing store in the UK! When I would ask the credit card company why this was happening on all of our corporate accounts with what I thought was alarming frequency, the rep said she did not know—not good enough. I wonder if somehow corporate accounts are more vulnerable or the fact that several people in the same office with a corporate card somehow increased the chances of fraud? I wish I knew the answer. In the meantime, I am paranoid with all my personal accounts (not just credit cards). I require of each vendor I do business with to validate my identity each time I have contact with them. This seems like a no-brainer, but I have had to train at least two vendors on proper identification after others who got a hold of my account were able to make changes. The take home, be vigilant and use some common sense!